The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a regulatory proposal to the White House that could change how federal securities laws are applied to cryptocurrencies.
On Tuesday the SEC sent to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs a “commission interpretation on application of the federal securities laws to certain types of crypto assets and certain transactions involving crypto assets.” The move is described as interpretative guidance around a “token taxonomy,” clarifying which tokens may be treated as securities.
Unlike formal rulemaking, which requires public notice and comment, the commission’s interpretive statement would carry more weight than staff-level guidance. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce said at ETHDenver in February the agency aims to clarify how tokenized securities fit within existing securities laws.
As of Thursday, the proposal was under review by the White House office. Trump administration officials have also held meetings in 2026 related to a crypto market structure bill moving through the Senate; if passed, that legislation could significantly affect how the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversee digital assets.
Separately, the CFTC sent its own guidance on prediction markets to the White House. CFTC Chair Michael Selig has asserted the agency has “exclusive jurisdiction” over such markets.
Both agencies are operating without full, bipartisan commissions. The SEC currently has three commissioners — Paul Atkins, Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda — and the CFTC has one, Michael Selig. All four are Republicans; no Democratic commissioners are in place. President Donald Trump has not publicly indicated plans to nominate additional commissioners to either agency.
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